JBL Live 400BT

The Bose QuietComfort 35 II is one of the very best Closed-Back Headphones that one can get for around $220. The JBL Live 400BT, however, while a very good choice at its $55 price point, falls just short of being remarkable.

The Bose QuietComfort 35 II impressed reviewers from many highly trusted sources, including Rtings, SoundGuys, PCmag, Tom's Guide, TechGearLab, Wirecutter (NYTimes), and Wirecutter. It performed great in their Closed-Back Headphone roundups - it was named "Best Wireless Over-Ear Headphones" by Rtings, "Best Features" by SoundGuys, and "Best for Google Assistant Users" by PCmag. That's high praise from sources that conduct in-depth hands-on testing.

As for the JBL Live 400BT - it was really well-received by reviewers at Rtings, a great source that's known for conducting high-quality in-depth testing. It performed great in its "The 6 Best On-Ear Headphones - Spring 2020" roundup and was named its "Best On-Ear Headphones For Running", which, on its own, makes it a product that warrants a closer look.

When we thoroughly analyzed their review scores, we learned that all of the sources that tested both Closed-Back Headphones, including Rtings, preferred the Bose QuietComfort 35 II over the JBL Live 400BT.

We also took a look at which sources they managed to impress the most. The Bose QuietComfort 35 II was liked best by Expert Reviews, which gave it a score of 10, while the JBL Live 400BT got its highest, 7, score from Rtings.

Lastly, we averaged out all of their review ratings and observed that the Bose QuietComfort 35 II, with its 8.7 average, performed considerably better than most Closed-Back Headphones - the mean score for the product category being 7.4 out of 10 - while the JBL Live 400BT managed an average of 7.0.

There's one caveat here - it might not be entirely justifiable to do a direct Bose QuietComfort 35 II vs. JBL Live 400BT review average comparison since they aren't priced the same and more expensive products tend to get higher review scores from some sources.